The Viral 'Cancer-Cure' story - Why Sri Lanka needs professional science journalism

Finding life on an extraterrestrial planet, discovering a treatment for a terminal disease, inventing a sustainable replacement for fossil fuels - these are the kind of headlines the world eagerly waits to appear on news regarding scientific research.

- BY MANASEE THISARAMALEE WEERATHUNGA

Science journalists are the vehicle that carries the new knowledge generated by scientists inside laboratories and in the field, to the public. Therefore, a huge responsibility rests on the shoulders of science journalists and science communicators to convey the most accurate version of that information.

A news item about a leading Sri Lankan university "discovering" a cancer-curing drug made headlines last week, spreading rapidly across local print and electronic mass media as well as social media. The nature this news was reported serves as a classic example to analyse why Sri Lankan scientific and journalistic communities should pay more attention towards engaging in science communication and science news reporting with improved professionalism, responsibility and ethical awareness. Outlined here are five lessons that science journalists could learn from the 'cancer-cure' story, about reporting scientific discoveries with integrity.

Science journalists translate the technical scientific concepts into stories that are comprehensive and appealing to the public. However, it should not come at the cost of oversimplifying and making the information nuanced. Stating the whole truth by covering all the facts and details about the experimental procedure and results is crucial.

Misstep: In the "cancer-cure" discovery story, the context where the experiments currently stand was downplayed. They reported that this product had been proven to be successful in targeting and destroying cancer cells, failing to disclose that the product demonstrated those results in cancer cells grown in Petri dishes inside a laboratory, and not inside actual human bodies.